Trading Places

from Summit Notebook:

Tax evaders on the run

  By Neil Chatterjee     The U.S. has promised it will hunt down tax evaders.     And it seems tax evaders are on the run.     DBS bank, based in the growing offshore financial centre of Singapore, told Reuters it had been approached by U.S. citizens asking for its private banking services. But when told they would have to sign U.S. tax declaration forms, the potential clients disappeared.       Swiss banks also approached DBS on the hope they could offload troublesome U.S. clients to a location that so far has not been reached by the strong arms of Washington or Brussels.     DBS said no thanks. In fact many private banks and boutique advisors now seem to be avoiding U.S. clients.     Will this spread to other nationalities, as governments invest in tax spies and tax havens invest in white paint?     Is this the end of offshore private private banking?

Desperate times, desperate career measures

It’s no secret that the economic downturn is having an impact on the careers of millions of Americans.  Just ask Matthew Derra (pictured here), who found himself pursuing a degree in renewable energy after his job at American Axle disappeared.

As the U.S. braces for yet another monthly dismal jobs report, thousands more will be faced with one big question: what now?

Turns out, not everyone is looking for jobs in the field they once called home.

“We’re seeing people more willing to consider opportunities in places traditionally they wouldn’t locate to,’ says John Flanigan, VP of staffing company Aerotek.

Just as Derra found himself back at school, people are finding themselves in some unlikely scenarios. One former executive took an entry-level job after losing his job at Hewlett-Packard, a move he says set his career (and his salary) back by two decades.

Sound familiar? Now that the job market has narrowed, what are you doing with your career? Share your thoughts below.

Unemployment jumps, but is the economy finding its floor?

Markets might have rallied on relief that the jobs data this morning wasn’t worse than expected, but there’s no getting away from the fact that an 8.5 percent unemployment rate is an ugly number. The March jobs figures showed U.S. employers slashed 663,000 jobs in March. The unemployment rate was the highest since 1983. Here is some reaction from the market:

ROBERT MACINTOSH, CHIEF ECONOMIST, EATON VANCE CORP, BOSTON: “It’s telling you we’re in a deep recession and it’s still going to be a while to get out of it, especially on the employment side of things. But you have to keep in mind that this is a lagging indicator, we’re going to get bad employment numbers, along with the employment rate, even if the economy is starting to turn.”

PIERRE ELLIS, SENIOR ECONOMIST, DECISION ECONOMICS, NEW YORK: “The report does not contradict the growing notion that the economy is finding a bottom. Employment will not turn on a dime and certainly there’s no sign of strength, but at least it’s not getting worse and worse and worse.”

PETER KENNY, MANAGING DIRECTOR, KNIGHT EQUITY MARKETS, JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY: “It gives the market a sense that we dodged a bullet in the very, very near term. It’s positive in that it wasn’t a blowout number of more than 750,000. All the indexes are higher because the market is breathing a sigh of relief because it wasn’t a blowout of market psychology. It indicates a slackening of the rate of decline and leaves the bear market rally intact.”

Do you agree the economy has found its floor? If you’re an employer, have you done cutting jobs? If you’re employed, do you feel secure? If you’re unemployed, are you seeing any improvement in the jobs market? Let us know in the comments below.